


Hatred Can Kill

by hosheep



Category: Gundam SEED
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Assassination, Blood and Violence, Death, Family Drama, Family Loss, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Originally Posted on LiveJournal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-15
Updated: 2007-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-25 03:50:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20370214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hosheep/pseuds/hosheep
Summary: A story on my OC, her dysfunctional family, and his friends.





	1. Chapter 1

Out in one of the open fields, far away from the nearest Alliance base, a prototype mobile suit had landed on the ground with a thud due to its massive weight. Not far from the large weapon sat one of the Alliance's fighter planes. An early version of the Sky Grasper, if you will.  
  
The pilot of the fighter plane opened and climbed out of the cockpit and removed his helmet, sitting it down on his seat as he got out of it. Hopping off the wing of the plane, he began to walk cautiously towards the machine in front of him, hoping that the pilot was who he thought it was.  
  
After about a minute or so, the cockpit of the newest ZAFT weapon opened and a female pilot climbed out, taking hold of the cord-lift and pulled it down some so she could place her foot into the triangle-shape at the bottom. After making sure she wouldn't slip off of it, she lowered herself down onto the ground and stepped off as soon as she reached her destination.  
  
"Izumi...?" The male pilot questioned as he took a small step toward the pilot.  
  
Silence stretched between the two as the ZAFT soldier took of her helmet, her short, brown hair flying in every which direction.  
  
Smiling somewhat weakly at the man before her, Izumi nodded, "Yes. I'm glad to see you as well, Hideaki."  
  
Hideaki let out a sigh of relief and embraced his wife; glad to see that she was safe and sound.  
  
"There's... something you should know..." Izumi pushed herself away from her husband gently and looked away and at the grassy ground, sadness shining in her brown eyes.  
  
"... What is it?" He asked, looking down at her, hoping that whatever news his wife gathered from the PLANTs wasn't bad.  
  
"... The Kaohsiung base in China is planning another attack on Panama in a few days, and they're planning to use their only mobile suits—"  
  
"Hold on," Hideaki interrupted, holding a hand up, "What's a mobile suit?" He questioned, wondering if that was the name of the rumored ZAFT weapon.  
  
"It's... that thing behind me." Izumi answered softly, almost whispering it.  
  
"That thing?" Hideaki whistled as he took a closer look at it. "No way Panama's going to stand much of a chance. Alright, I'll fly straight to Central America and try to stop the attack." He grinned, placing a hand on the shorter pilot's head.  
  
Izumi smiled, looking up at her husband, a slight shimmer of hope shining in her eyes, "Thank you!" Dropping her helmet, she wrapped both of her arms around the Alliance officer's neck in a tight embrace, overjoyed.  
  
Hideaki couldn't help but laugh and returned the hug, stroking his wife's shiny brown hair as he did so. "Don't worry, I'm a good pilot. Besides, I doubt that the officers at Panama would doubt my word. They never have. Yet, anyways."  
  
  
Somewhere high above in the clear blue sky, another mobile suit hovered about as the pilot—a spy—watched the events taking place below. Making sure to stay off of the radar of the grounded mobile suit, it flew off towards Carpentaria, where the ZAFT headquarters was to report what he had just seen. Luckily, that was only a few minute's flight from where they were.


	2. Chapter 2

-Carpentaria, Australia-  
  
Ikari Higeki walked through the hallways of the ZAFT headquarters, a few fellow ZAFT soldiers saluting him and returning the salute as he walked along. He let out a soft sigh as he started to slow, nearing his destination. He had been called to the headman's office just a few minutes ago, and since he was busy with one of his teammates, Nana, he had been delayed.  
  
Stopping in front of the somewhat large, blue double-doors, he reached over and pressed one of the buttons on the intercom(?), "Ikari Higeki reporting, sir."  
  
_"Come on in."_ Came the reply from the other side, the doors opening.  
  
Ikari stepped inside, eyes widening slightly as he saw that the supreme councilman was there and gave him a salute, regaining his posture. "Is there something that you want, gichou?" He asked, still uncertain why he was called.  
  
"Yes, there is," The chairman sighed softly as he shuffled through his papers and reports, pulling up one that had been received just a few moments before Ikari's arrival. "I need to ask a special favor of you. If you're not willing to do this, I can get someone else to." The chairman started, looking up from his papers at the elite soldier in front of him.  
  
"It all depends on the job, gichou."  
  
The chairman stood up and walked around his desk, "I need you to... get rid of someone for me. You can do that without holding back, can't you?"  
  
"Yes sir!" Ikari replied almost immediately.  
  
The older man let out another sigh, turning to face Ikari, "Even if it was your own mother?"  
  
"As long as I am a soldier of ZAFT, I have no family." Ikari's face remained expressionless, having absolutely no hard feelings towards assassinating his own mother.  
  
The chairman sighed again, "... I knew you were going to say that, considering you've already got rid of your elder twin sister. Very well, then. You have your assignment. You are to assassinate Izumi Higeki. It's against our laws to allow a traitor to remain in ZAFT. The penalty is death, and I'm sure you know that."  
  
"Of course. I'll make sure that Izumi Higeki is dealt with as soon as possible."  
  
"That's good to hear." The chairman made his way back to his chair and sat down, resting his elbows on his desk and folded his hands together so he could rest his chin on them. "I have faith in you, Ikari. For as long as you've been in ZAFT at such a young age, you've impressed me with how much information you helped us gather. I should hope that you will complete this mission without fail."  
  
"Sir!" Ikari gave the older man another salute, "Please excuse me, then." With that, the teen turned to leave the room, the double doors opening as he reached them and closing as he left.  
  
  
-Ikari and Nana's Room-  
  
Sitting down at the desk, Ikari opened the top of the laptop that was sitting on it and began to type. Before he would actually kill his mother, he thought that a... "family reunion" would be... what's the word? Nice?  
  
"Now what are you up to, Ikari?" Nana asked as he entered their room, noticing the brown-haired teen when he heard the pounding of the keys on the keyboard.  
  
"Right now, let's just call it a family reunion," Ikari smirked, pausing for a moment to look over at his teammate.  
  
"Heh. Knowing you, I'm sure you'll have fun with that reunion." Nana smirked as well, sitting himself down on his bed while still able to read what Ikari was typing up.  
  
"Of course~ It is an assassination, after all. Well, it's not exactly an assassination, but it gets the job done." He laughed lightly as he hit the send button, the e-mail he had sent to both his parents leaving to his destination.  
  
"I'm sure as you get the job done, the generals or whoever would be happy the job's done." Nana commented, lying down on his bed.  
  
"True," Ikari paused for a moment before pulling up his elder sister's, Satsuki, file up. Though it had been deleted from the ZAFT database, Ikari still had a copy for some unknown reason.  
  
"Onee-chan's... medical condition, if you can call it that, did give me an advantage. I'm sure that it'll give me the same advantage when I see Mother again," Ikari said, mainly to himself, as he read over all the details of the screen he was reading.  
  
"What kind of medical condition, exactly?" Nana asked, propping himself up on his elbows as he looked up at Ikari.  
  
"I doubt it's actually a medical condition, but whenever they're shot, their body goes through some sort of panic and loses strength. Depending on how bad the injury is or where you shot them, they can catch a fever or die instantly." Ikari explained, turning in his chair to face the younger teen, "Interesting, isn't it?"  
  
"Heh," Nana smirked and laid back down on the bed, "Yeah. And since your sister had it and your mother has it, I'm guessing that Natural sister of yours has it at well?" He asked, staring up at the pale blue ceiling.  
  
"I wouldn't doubt it." Ikari turned back to face his laptop and closed the screen showing Satsuki's information. "I haven't had the chance to test her yet."  
  
  
-Field-  
  
"Eh?" Hideaki glanced over at his fighter plane as a noise came from inside the cockpit.  
  
"What is it?" Izumi asked, looking up from the grassy ground they were now sitting on.  
  
"A notification, maybe...?" He shrugged and got to his feet, dusting the blades of grass that stuck onto his flight suit off before sprinting over toward the plane.  
  
He leaped onto the wing he had climbed off of earlier that day and reached into the cockpit as the screen inside blinked.  
  
"It's... an e-mail," Hideaki announced, "from Ikari..."  
  
"Ikari-kun?" Izumi got back to her feet; surprised that Ikari knew how to contact his father. Well, he was good at researching and gathering information, after all. "What does it say?" She asked, walking over to the Alliance plane.  
  
"It says: Dear Mother and Father,  
  
I hope that both of you are doing well and keeping yourselves out of trouble. If it isn't too much to ask, I would like to meet with both of you again sometime soon. Maybe when either of you aren't in combat or carrying out a mission?  
  
If that is possible, please let me know as soon as possible. Oh, and if you can, Father, bring Shiori-chan as well. It has been an awfully long time since I last saw my little sister. I would love to see how she's doing. Hopefully, she won't come up with any lies this time.  
  
Love,  
Ikari." Hideaki let out a sigh, staring at the e-mail. Ikari was indeed talented with research.  
  
"Should we accept? Panama could..." Izumi trailed off as she thought of any consequence of meeting Ikari before Kaohsiung's attack on Panama.  
  
"When is the attack?" Hideaki asked, glancing down at his wife.  
  
"I-In five days. Why?"  
  
"We'll meet Ikari. It's best to go ahead and do so now, that way we can get whatever he desires out of the way before Kaohsiung can launch across the Pacific. I'll go back and get Shiori. I should be back in a few hours." Hideaki grinned somewhat weakly as he took his helmet from his seat and placed it back on his heat, making sure it was secure to his suit.  
  
"Are you sure it's wise to meet him now?" Izumi asked, still uneasy about it, "I don't think he'll have any way of transportation... He can't even drive yet and he doesn't even have a car."  
  
"Knowing our son, I'm sure that he'll manage to find an electric car and come out here. We're only about three or four miles away from the nearest town, anyways." Hideaki reassured, "So why don't you go ahead and contact Ikari while I go and get Shiori? It shouldn't take me that long to get her from Alaska."  
  
Izumi nodded somewhat reluctantly and started back towards her green mobile suit. She couldn't shake off the horrible feeling she was getting. It almost felt as it they shouldn't do that.  
  
As soon as Izumi was at a safe distance from the fighter plane, Hideaki started it up and made a few more preparations before the plane lifted into the air and launched from the field, leaving behind only a few burnt patches of grass.  
  
"Be careful..." Izumi murmured, pausing to watch the fighter plane disappear into the clear blue sky after only a minute or so. Letting out a sigh, she got on the cord-lift and lifted herself back up to the cockpit and climbed in as soon as she had reached it.  
  
The female elite reread the e-mail sent by her son before replying to it.  
  
_Dear Ikari,  
  
We would love to see you again as well. I'm sure you know that both of us miss you very much. At this very moment I'm positive that none of us have any missions, so why don't you come down right away? I'm sure that Dad is on his way to get Shiori from his relatives and will be at the following coordinates in a few hours.  
  
I'm waiting for you at...  
  
Izumi stopped for a moment as she pulled up a map of the area to check the coordinates of where she was.  
  
87-63-9S_(A/N: Forget how they use coordinates in SEED, so we'll just use this. ^^)_. There's a town about three or four miles north of here, so I'm sure that you'll be able to find some sort or transportation from there._  
  
Love,  
Mom.


	3. Chapter 3

-Australia-  
  
Just as Ikari was about to get up and get himself a drink, a screen popped up on his laptop with Izumi and Hideaki's reply.  
  
He blinked as he glanced back at the screen, quite surprised by the sudden response. "That was fast."  
  
"Yeah," Nana blinked as well, curious as to why his friend's parents had answered so quickly.  
  
"Well, I guess I'm leaving much earlier than expected. I'll go and change real quick and take one of the planes over to the field they're at," Ikari got up from his seat and walked over to the closet to take out some civilian clothes.  
  
"Of course you've got everything already planned out. No wonder you were the top student at the academy." Shrugging, Nana got back to his feet and started towards the door, "Don't forget to tell me about it when you get back~" Nana waved back to his fellow teammate and friend before walking out the room.  
  
"Of course~"  
  
  
-Several Hours Later-  
  
After telling his mother he was on his way, Ikari sat himself down in the cockpit of the plane he was going to use. Now he couldn't help but grin. Everything was going so smoothly. Even though his mother was also an elite, she lacked a lot of things. A couple of things that he did know was that she couldn't see through his constant acting, or realize that he, too, had joined ZAFT.  
  
"Heh. Then I guess that he being hardheaded, if that's what you can call it, will get her killed. Oh, and her... "condition" will it easier to get rid of her as well. Ah well. Not my problem. ^^" He laughed lightly, obviously enjoying himself.  
  
  
-Field-  
  
"Mommy!" Ten-year-old Shiori leaped off of the fighter plane as soon as she had gotten onto the wing, unable to wait for the plane to land and she didn't even care if she did get hurt.  
  
"Shiori! That's extremely dangerous!" Izumi scolded as she ran towards her daughter, managing to catch her in her arms before she could hit the ground.  
  
Shiori stuck her tongue out at her mother childishly, "Nyah! You caught me so there isn't anything to worry about. Besides, PLANT didn't make you a Red for nothing~" Shiori laughed and wiggled her way out of her mother's firm grip.  
  
"Yare yare. Shiori, I swear you're going to kill us one day," Hideaki joked, climbing out of the plane's cockpit once more after it had landed safely on the ground.  
  
Shiori remained silent for a moment. She knew that her father was joking, but she did know that she really would be the reason for their deaths. Ikari said so plenty of times.  
  
"Oi... I didn't mean—" Hideaki was cut off as the sound of honking could be heard not too far out.  
  
All three turned towards the source of the distraction, only to find Ikari's rented care slowly making its way into their sight.  
  
Shiori's eyes widened as she realized who the driver of the care was. She took a few steps back in a futile attempt to get away from her elder brother, even though she knew she would see him and hear all his rants about pathetic, weak Naturals.  
  
"Shiori... you could try to be a bit more polite, ne?" He mother asked as Ikari continued to get closer to the three, "He is your brother, after all."  
  
Izumi's plea had fallen on deaf ears. No matter how many times they told her to be polite to her elder brother, she couldn't help but try to get away with all of his attempts to kill her. He hated her with all his heart, so why even bother trying to be nice anyways?  
  
As the car stopped a few feet in front of the small family, Ikari smirked evilly over at Shiori, causing a small gasp to escape from the child's lips. Of course, he made sure their parents couldn't see it.  
  
Climbing out of the care, Ikari's smirk changed into a fake smile as his parents walked up to greet him.  
  
"Son~" Hideaki laughed gently, patting Ikari on the back. Ikari internally shivered at the touch, wishing that his father wouldn't do that.  
  
"So, why the sudden visit?" Asked the Alliance soldier.  
  
"Ooh... I just though we should get together one last time before something happens to the both of you." Ikari said calmly, reaching into his pocket for his gun.  
  
"What makes you think that, Ikari-kun?" Izumi asked curiously, puzzled by her son's answered to Hideaki's question.  
  
"The chairman makes me think so, Mother." Ikari smirked, unable to hide it any longer.  
  
Both Hideaki and Izumi's eyes widened with shock and surprised, obviously not knowing their son was also in the military.  
  
"But, when...? When did you join ZAFT?" Izumi questioned, taking a step closer toward her son.  
  
"Do you remember when I left, Mother? The year you enlisted in ZAFT? When I enlisted, I had requested headquarters and the chairman to keep my enlistment a secret. They accepted, to my surprise, and kept you as busy as humanly possible even though you occasionally disobeyed orders and told out secrets to Father." Ikari explained, glaring over in Hideaki's direction as he pulled out his gun, aiming at his parents.  
  
"Run away! Daddy! Mommy! He's going to—" Shiori was cut off as the sound of gunfire filled the air. Ikari, before his parents could do or say anything, had pulled out his gun and shot their mother.  
  
Izumi's lips parted as a silent gasp escaped from them, not expecting her own son to shoot her. Due to her condition, her vision quickly blurred until all she could see was a black void. Her body now limp, the female elite fell to the ground, her violet eyes closing for the last time.  
  
"Izumi!!" Hideaki rushed towards his deceased wife, catching the lifeless body before it could hit the ground.  
  
"If you miss her that much already, Father, then you can join her in hell." Ikari quickly aimed and shot the gun again, hitting his father in the shoulder.  
  
"Daddy!" Shiori rushed forward to help, but stopped as a bullet hit the ground a centimeter in front of her foot.  
  
Ignoring the throbbing pain in his shoulder, Hideaki laid Izumi down on the grass. Getting up, the Alliance pilot glared at the ZAFT soldier in front of him, earning him another injury in the arm.  
  
With every step that Hideaki took, Ikari shot at him, though in a different spot every time. About every minute or so, there was a slight moment of peace as Ikari changed cartages.  
  
Before he knew it, Hideaki stood directly in front of the ZAFT elite. Ikari, startled, took several steps back. However, before he could get a good distance away, Hideaki reached out and grabbed Hikari's wrist and held onto it with a firm grip despite his bleeding to death.  
  
"Let go of me you damn Natural!" Ikari demanded, trying to free himself.  
  
"..." Without saying a word, Hideaki pulled out a hidden knife from his pocket and slashed Ikari across the chest, leaving behind a long, deep gash.  
  
Ikari bit down on his lower lip to keep from crying out in pain. Instead, he took advantage of the short distance between the two and aimed his gun right at Hideaki's heart and shot.  
  
Silence settle in the area as a minute slowly passed. Hideaki's hand slipped from Ikari's wrist as he body fell limp and toward the ground.  
  
Ikari sidestepped the falling corpse, not wanting to be touched by such a disgusting thing. He then fell to one knee as pain shot through his body, trying to suppress the bleeding.  
  
Shiori stood in the exact same spot for several minutes as she stared at the dead bodies of her parents, their crimson blood painting over the green of the grass. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the ten-year-old spoke, although softly.  
  
"D... Da... Daddy... M-Mo..." The words were caught in her throat. She wanted to scream them at the top of her lungs, but since she couldn't tears quickly blurred her vision and rolled down her cheeks in streams, falling to her hands and knees.  
  
Quickly growing annoyed with the crying and ignoring his injury, Ikari got back to his feet and made his way toward his younger sister. Once he had reached her, he wrapped a firm hand around her neck and lifted her into the air.  
  
"Ack..." Shiori winced, trying to loosen Ikari's grip around her, but it was useless. Instead of the grip loosening, it only tightened.  
  
Shiori let out a silent cry as she desperately tried to free herself, clenching her eyes shut as tears started forming in her eyes. Again, her efforts were useless and she was slowly slipping out of consciousness due to the lack of air, her grip around Ikari's wrist slowly beginning to loosen.  
  
"I've waited far too long for this," Ikari smirked weakly, shaking his head to get rid of the dizzy feeling that he was starting to feel. He pulled out a hidden knife from his sleeve and held it up to Shiori's neck, the blade shimmering as it reflected the sunlight.  
  
The tears that had gathered flowed silently down her cheeks, her breathing becoming shallow as she forced herself to stay conscious. She opened an eye to glance down at the knife in Ikari's hand, feeling its sharp blade cut her neck.  
  
"Itai..." Shiori forced her grip to tighten around Ikari's wrist, although it had hardly tightened. She pulled away as Ikari forced the knife further, making the cut deeper and longer, blood streaming down the sound of her neck and Ikari's hand.  
  
Ikari clenched his teeth as his vision started to blur, blinking a few times in an attempt to clear his vision. His shirt was drenched in his own blood and dripped from the seams of the cotton shirt and gathered into a small puddle on the lush, green grass.  
  
Muttering something under his breath, Ikari brought the knife across Shiori's throat, though the wound had gotten shallower as it ran across her skin. Blood spewed from the wound and Shiori let out another silent cry, her eyes widening as she felt her warm blood flow from the injury.  
  
Dropping Shiori onto the ground and leaving her to bleed to death, Ikari glanced down at the bleeding Natural, "I'm sure you're still conscious. Listen, Shiori, if I should ever see you again or hear that you somehow managed to join ZAFT, I will personally enjoy torturing you as I slowly kill you. Such a weak and pathetic human being... You're exactly like Mother. It is your fault that they had to die, after all." With that said, Ikari made his way toward the mobile suit that was left behind by Izumi and took hold of the cord-lift, making his way toward the cockpit. He let out a sigh as he plopped down in the seat, holding onto his wound more carefully, he reached out with his opposite hand and turned on the main power of the mobile suit he was in.  
  
"Hopefully I can... get to Nana... Nnh..." He flinched as his injury protested against the thought of piloting the mobile suit. Muttering curses under his breath, Ikari reached back and pulled the keyboard down before he starting typing with that hand, sending an S.O.S/e-mail to his friend, hoping that he would get it


	4. Chapter 4

Having received the S.O.S. earlier, the chairman had sent out a medical team to the coordinates that Ikari had left in the notice. A few doctors were rushing back and forth between rooms in preparation for Ikari's (and Shiori's, but they didn't know that yet.) arrival.  
  
Without given any specific orders, Nana had taken one of the partly-functional mobile suits and lead the medical team, just incase they somehow ended up getting lost by some unlucky fluke.  
  
When they entered the area, everyone but Nana pondered over why there was an Alliance plane and civilian car there. Saving any questions for later, the team and Nana landed onto the ground safely without error.  
  
"Wow. This thing actually made it without any problems. Talk about luck." Nana stared at the controls in amazement for a brief moment before opening the cockpit of the mobile suit. Climbing out of it, the giant machine's hand moved in front of the elite to give him something to stand on.  
  
Glancing over at the other mobile suit that was a bit away, Nana could barely make out someone that he figured to be Ikari. The teen opened his mouth to call out his friend's name, but the second mecha moved toward him, holding out its hand for Nana to step onto. Once Nana was safely on the giant hand, it moved toward the open cockpit so Nana could get a better look.  
  
Upon seeing his friend's red ZAFT uniform, Ikari smiled weakly, though it was not visible, before finally slipping out of consciousness. He had forced himself to stay conscious until his friend or someone else from ZAFT came along, and when hey had finally arrived he had trouble doing just that. Still, he forced himself to stay conscious. Nana had to get over to him somehow, after all.  
  
Nana's eyes widened as he let out a soft gasp when he saw Ikari's injury. Blood covered the front of his shirt, the seat he was in and the cockpit. The mecha's hand had stopped a meter or two away from the cockpit and Nana wondered if he would make it if he jumped. Knowing that time was being wasted, he took his chances and backed up to the edge of the mechanical hand before breaking out into a run. Before he reached the edge, Nana leaped off of the hand and reached out for the cord-lever that was dangling from the cockpit.  
  
Nana let out a huge sigh of relief when he managed to grab the cord and pulled himself up onto the cockpit while the cord-lever moved down an inch or two. Carefully, Nana took his unconscious friend out of the pilot's seat and walked out of the cockpit. He glanced over the area to find the medical teams take the dead bodies and Shiori's unconscious body in. He gave them a semi-glare from where he was, wondering why the hell they would bring an Alliance pilot. Muttering something under his breath, Nana lowered himself down to the ground using the cord-lever while making sure not to let go of Ikari or cause his injury to tear.  
  
"Hey, idiots!" Nana called, picking up Ikari once more when he had touched the solid ground. His yelling had gathered the attention of a few of the medics, who rushed over, took one look at Ikari before taking the unconscious elite from Nana and placed him on a stretcher two other medics had brought before taking him to the plane they had brought.  
  
  
-Carpentaria-  
  
After rushing the two siblings out of the plane and securing them in separate rooms, ZAFT's medical staff worked their hardest to keep the two alive as long as possible. Both injuries were serious and both had lost a fatal amount of blood. It would take a miracle for the two siblings to make it out of the hospital wing alive.  
  
The chairman had left to deal with the matters of the siblings' parents' bodies. Knowing that it wouldn't seem humane to send the Alliance officer's body back to Alaska with a false report stating that Hideaki had attacked two ZAFT elites, his daughter getting caught in the cross-fire. Izumi's body was sent to the PLANTs for a proper burial, being one of the many that were killed in action. So much work... and he still had to explain the situation to the rest of the council whenever he next set foot on the PLANTs.  
  
Nana had stayed behind in the hospital wing's waiting room in one of the many chairs staring at the floor, not because of the chairman's orders to do so, but because Ikari was his best friend. Probably the only friend he had ever since he enlisted in ZAFT. Nana's head jerked up when he heard one of the double doors leading to the many rooms for injured or sick soldiers open, revealing one of the doctors, probably the one that was in charge or the most involved.  
  
"How is he?" Nana asked at once, quickly getting to his feet, "How's Ikari?" He didn't even bother with any formalities. The current situation didn't ask for it, not when his best friend was on the brink of death. Time was precious.  
  
"Well," the doctor started, trying to figure out the best way to explain it. "Ikari and his sister, it seems, are in critical condition. Their injuries are serious, and it would take a miracle if both were to survive. Ho-"  
  
Without even thinking, Nana blurted out, "I'll donate blood! If that'll help them increase their chances of survival, then I'll do it." He clenched a hand into a tight fist, oblivious to the fact that he had been referring to both Ikari and his sister.  
  
Letting out a sigh, the doctor turned to take Nana into an empty room, gesturing for him to go first. Nana did as told and walked through the white double doors, the doctor following at his heels.  
  
After a couple of minutes of walking, the doctor opened one of the doors on the left side of the hallway and held it open for Nana, who quickly walked through. The doctor followed after Nana and closed the door behind him. Without saying another word to Nana, the doctor sat down at the desk and began typing at the computer that sat on the desktop.  
  
The door opened again and this time a couple of nurses walked in and laid Nana down on the bed. Since he had volunteered to donate enough blood to Shiori and Ikari to help them survive, a large amount of blood would be taken from Nana, but not a fatal amount.  
  
Nana watched quietly, but impatiently, as the nurses injected a syringe into his arm, cringing slightly. Blood began to travel up through the needle and into the tube connected to it, emptying into a vile. Watching for a few more minutes as the blood continued to stream from his arm to the vile, Nana felt his eyes drooping and his head nodding before his world went black.  
  
  
[ A few hours later ]  
  
Groggily, Nana opened his eyes reluctantly to find his vision blurred. Blinking a few times, he finally made out the pearly whiteness of the ceiling above.   
  
"Where am..." The question went unfinished as he suddenly remembered everything that happened and bolted upright immediately. He regretted doing that the next second as his head began to swim with dizziness. "Ow..." Nana shook his head, thinking it would help get rid of the headache he currently held.  
  
"Oh, so you're awake?" One of the nurses asked kindly as she looked up from her clipboard, tilting her head at Nana in a curious fashion.  
  
"Yeah... How long was I out for?" Nana muttered, holding his throbbing head.  
  
"Mm... Three, four hours. That's fairly normal, so don't worry about it," She answered with a smile, "You might want to be careful of your movements. You might have a headache for a little while and your arm might hurt, but that's normal as well. It should clear up within a day or two, considering the amount of blood that was taken from you," She added as she handed him a glass of water that was on the nightstand beside the hospital bed.  
  
"I'll be fine. Whatever. How's Ikari?" Nana demanded, shoving the headache aside to deal with later while he tried his best to deal with the pain.  
  
"Doing much better, thanks to the donation. He has a strong will, that one. His little sister is recovering as well. You can see them if you wish," The nurse informed him, standing up from her chair.  
  
"Damn right I do! Where is h...?" Nana blinked as the nurse turned to leave the room before he even had a chance to finish. Hopping off the bed, he hurried after her so he wouldn't get lost in the labyrinth of a hospital later.  
  
After following the aide through a couple of hallways, they stopped in front of a pearly white door with two clipboards in the plastic compartment that was sticking out of the wooden structure.  
  
Nana glanced over to the names listed on the small white board to check the names listed: Higeki Ikari and Shiori.  
  
The aide bowed slightly to Nana before taking her leave back down the hallway and into the labyrinth. Nana silently watched the helper for a moment or two before gently pushing the door open and walking through the doorway and into the room.  
  
The only sound that greeted him was the soft and somewhat faint hums of the machinery in the room and the rhythmic beeping from the heart monitors. The only other conscious being in the room was the physician he had seen hours ago concerning the blood donation. Now, if he could only remember his name...  
  
_'I could've sworn I saw his name tag earlier... Well, it doesn't really matter, I guess.'_ Nana thought as he tried to recall the characters on the black plastic plate of a nametag.  
  
While Nana was busy thinking and recalling what had happened earlier that day, the surgeon, Dr. Hakushin, glanced over and greeted the elite with a gentle smile.  
  
Snapping out of his thoughts, Nana gave the elder man a salute in return before walking over to the white-cloaked man, "How long will it take Ikari to fully recover, exactly?" He asked, purposely leaving Shiori out since he had accidentally saved her in the rush to help save his best friend.  
  
"A few weeks at most, perhaps." Dr. Hakushin replied, picking up one of the clipboards that was lying on the table beside him bearing Ikari's name. "That is, if he stays in bed the entire time and doesn't attempt getting up and moving around."  
  
Nana let out a soft sigh upon hearing the news, glancing over at the comatose body that was his friend.  
  
"By the way..." Nana turned his head slightly so he was looking at the medical personnel, "What did gichou decide to do with the bodies and the Natural kid?" He asked, changing the subject out of pure curiosity.  
  
"Gichou has sent Izumi's body to PLANT for burial. As for the Alliance pilot... I believe that he's making a false report to send with the body back to Alaska." Dr. Hakushin guessed, tapping a gloved finger against his chin as he tried to remember what had been said and what was only a rumor.  
  
"I don't see why he should bother," The ZAFT pilot commented, pulling up one of the stools next to Ikari's bed and sat down on it, "The idiotic Natural got what he deserved."  
  
"Hideaki Higeki isn't a Natural, to our surprise," the physician corrected, "He's a Coordinator born without any of the special abilities that the rest of us do possess."  
  
"Tell me something I _don't know_," said Nana dryly, rolling his eyes, "It's because of that fact that Ikari called him a Natural. Guess it just rubbed off on me, too." He shrugged, not really caring.  
  
"Though, it does confuse me," Dr. Hakushin spoke, waving off Nana's comment into thin air, "Everyone in Ikari's family is a Coordinator except his younger sister. A Natural shouldn't be able to exist within the family at all." The head physician pondered for a moment, wondering if it was even possible, or that maybe there was a mistake with the blood tests and Shiori was, in fact, adopted into the family.  
  
"Don't look at me. You're the doctor. Besides, has anyone ever thought of reversing the whole 'modify genes to become better and a Coordinator' thing, or whatever you people call it." Nana blurted out, shrugging once more. Though in all honesty, he couldn't care less. Hell, he didn't even know why he even mentioned it in the first place.  
  
"Yes, though I'm not exactly 100% sure that's even worked. However... Looking at Shiori, I guess I've just been proved wrong."  
  
"Keh. Whatever." Nana shoved the thought aside and simply waited patiently at Ikari's bedside for the elder teen to regain consciousness.


End file.
